Guard and shelf for shower handles



Oct. 25, 1960 A. TOBIN 2,957,587

GUARD AND SHELF FOR SHOWER HANDLES Filed April 15, 1957 AR THUR TOE/IV,

IN VENTOR.

HERZ/G JESSUP,

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Office GUARD AND SHELF FOR SHOWER HANDLES Arthur Tobin, 3741 Stocker St., Culver City 8, Calif. Filed Apr. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 652,796

4 Claims. (Cl. 211-90) This invention relates to a combined guard and shelf and more particularly to a shelf which is adapted to be permanently or non-permanently secured to the wall of a bath or shower room, by means of the sleeve portion of the shower handles, for use as a support for various and sundry articles commonly used in connection with such a room, and as a guard surrounding the handles.

Whereas modern bathrooms and shower stalls are usually equipped with shallow recessed holders for soap, such holders lack space and head room to accommodate other items such as brushes, washcloths or the like. Particularly shampoos and similar goods which are generally stored in bottles are too tall to fit into the recessed holders and therefore generally placed on the floor of the shower stall, or on the bottom or edge of a tub, where they are easily overturned and frequently broken. There is a great need for a place, preferably within easy reach of a bather and out of the path of the shower, where such items can be safely and securely stored. Additional hanger means also convenient to the bather is desirable for hanging of washcloths or the like.

In stall showers particularly, the valve handles are generally located at waist height, at a position where they are readily accessible to a standing person. This places the handles in a vulnerable position to be accidently bumped as by an elbow or other parts of the body to inadvertently turn the hot water valve handle and change the volume of water, possibly scalding the body.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved combined shelf and guard that provides a supporting surface for the various items desired within convenient reach to a bather.

It is another object of this invention to providea new and improved shelf of the character described which also acts as a guard to prevent inadvertent turning of the shower handles.

Another object of this invention is to provide a newand improved combined shelf and guard that is easily and readily installed circumjacent the stems of the valve handles and securely fastened against the wall by component parts of the valve for permanent or semi-permanent installation, is universally adaptable to normally spaced valve stems and avoids necessity for drilling of additional holes in the wall.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved combined shelf and guard which is sturdy in construction yet economical to manufacture.

A still further object of this invention is to provide improved means on a shelf of the character described for hanging various items such as socks, washcloths or the like.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved combined shelf and guard which overcomes disadvantages of prior methods and devices heretofore intended to accomplish generally similar purposes.

These and other objects of this invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view in elevation of a'combined shelf and guard embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view as taken on a line 2-2 of Figure l; and v Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a method of securement for component parts as incorporated in this invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown, by way of illustration, but not of limitation, a combined shelf and guard assembly generally referred to by the numeral 10, installed against a wall 11 of a shower stall or the like.

The assembly 10, as shown, is desirably of a box-like configuration and preferably comprises a back wall 12, outwardly extending side walls 13, top wall or shelf 14, anda front and bottom which are preferably open. The back wall 12, side walls 13 and shelf 14 may be optionally formed of individual pieces of sheet metal, plastics or the like secured together as by welding, cementing or the like, and is not to be limited in scope to the illustrated embodiment in which said walls and shelf are shown integrally formed of sheet metal and bent or folded as will be described. Also optionally, the back wall 12, side walls 13 and shelf 14 may be formed integrally as by casting or molding of rigid, semi-rigid or elastomeric material, with a box-like, or other, configuration.

The back wall 12 is advantageously substantially flat to be secured against the vertical wall 11 of the shower stall. An elongated opening 16 is preferably horizontally disposed as at a central portion of the back wall 12 to accommodate a pair of valve stems 17 extending outwardly from the wall 11. The valve stems comprise the actuating elements of hot and cold water supply valves (not shown) normally provided in the wall 11 of a shower stall to control the flow of hot and cold water to the shower head. Such valve stems are normally installed at approximately waist height to be readily accessible to the bather, and are horizontally disposed and spaced apart usually at a distance of approximately six inches. This distance may vary, however, in some installations; it is therefore preferable that the opening 16 is of sufficient length to accommodate any such variance and to circumscribe both hot and cold Water valve stems.

It is to be understood that the opening 16 is provided to facilitate installation of the back wall 12 over the valve stems 17 and thereby to permanently or semipermanently clamp the wall 12 to the wall 11 by means of existing component parts of the supply valves. The opening 16 may therefore take the form of a pair of slots indicated by the broken lines 16' which are preferably elongated horizontally sufiiciently to accommodate the aforementioned variance of valve stem spacing. Likewise, the slots may be vertically or diagonally disposed on the back wall 12 and/ or communicating with the open bottom of the assembly so that the back wall 12 may be slid over the stems 17 without the necessity of removing component parts of the supply valves. Such latter arrangement while usable is not as permanent nor secure as the closed horizontal slotted construction wherein the valve handles and sleeves or collars are removed for installation of the unit.

If made of sheet metal, the back wall 12 is preferably bent outwardly, as along an upper fold line 18, forming the top wall or shelf 14 which provides a commodious and convenient support for any desired articles such as said tall bottles of shampoo, bars of soap, brushes, or the like. To preclude the possibility of such items sliding or being accidentally pushed off the shelf, a rail 21 is provided at the forward edge thereof and is preferably formed by bending the shelf upwardly as along a bend line 19.

The side walls 13 extend outwardly from the back wall 12, and may be formed by bending extensions of the.

Patented Oct. 25, 1960' back wall forwardly as along vertical bend lines 20. The side walls preferably extend above the shelf to a height substantially flush with the upper edge of the rail 21 to form extensions 21 thereof and prevent articles from falling off at the sides.

To secure the shelf 14 to the side walls 13, a plurality of depending tabs 22 are in this version provided as at the side edges of the shelf. A corresponding number of openings 23 are formed in the side Walls 13 into which the tabs 22 may be inserted to secure and support the shelf 14 and thereby to add rigidity to the assembly 10. A previously mentioned for securing separate pieces, the shelf and side walls may be secured as by welding or the like, if desired.

The assembly may be permanently or semi-permanently mounted on the wall 11 by placing the back wall 12 against the wall 11 with the opening 16 adjacent the stems 17 projecting from the wall 11. Bells or sleeves 32 indicated in broken lines, which are commonly used on supply valve stems and which are greater in diameter than the width of the opening 16 are secured on the stems 17 to clamp the wall 12 against the wall 11. Handles like 33 may then be reinstalled on the stems.

The top wall or shelf 14 and the side walls 13 are preferably sufficient in width to extend beyond the handles 33 and provide a guard against accidental bumping of the body of the bather thereagainst and inadvertently rotating the same. To safeguard against injury caused by such bumps, the side walls and shelf are preferably formed with rounded corners and edges, or optionally of a resilient material which is sufiiciently rigid to retain its form yet bendable when bumped.

The open front of the structure provides adequate and convenient accessibility to the handles 33 for desired manipulation thereof, in normal usage.

Whereas the bottom of the structure 10 may optionally be closed to form a secondary shelf, it is preferably left open to provide easier access to the collars 32 and handles 33 for installation, and to hangers 24, 31 spanning the open bottom.

The hanger 24 preferably depends as from the lower forward corners 25 of the side walls 13 and may be formed by bending wire to form an elongated horizontal portion 26, upwardly extending arm portions 27 and inwardly extending ends 28. The ends 28 extend through apertures 29 provided in the side walls 13 and may support the elongated tubular secondary hanger 31 between the walls 13.

The hangers 24, 31 may be used to support any desired items such as a Wash cloth or the like, or as a drying rack for small items of clothing such as socks, handkerchiefs or the like. The hanger 24 may be preformed with a tension capable of retaining it in a raised position, if desired, to space the hanger 24 inwardly or outwardly of the hanger 31 and provide clearance therebetween.

In general, this invention features the provision of a combined guard and shelf which is capable of being mounted on the wall of a shower stall or the like without the necessity of drilling holes at the time of installation, either in the structure itself, or in the wall of the shower stall. A back wall is provided that can be installed against the shower wall, by removing the supply valve handles and bell sleeves from the valve stems, placing the back Wall against the shower wall with the valve stems extending through openings provided in the back wall and clamping the back wall to the shower wall by replacing the bell sleeves tightly thereagainst before replacing the handles.

A shelf is provided, extending from the back wall, to support various and sundry items normally used in a shower stall. Rails are formed around the outer periphery of the shelf to preclude accidental dislodging of such items which may be placed on the shelf.

The shelf, together with side walls and hangers spanning the open side of the structure, extend beyond and enclose the handles to form a guard against inadvertent rotation of the handles as by bumping the handles with arms or body and consequent accidental scalding.

The structure further features the aforementioned hanger means as useful for hanging items such as washcloths during bathing or as a drying rack. The hanger means may additionally be used as a convenient grip to prevent slipping on the floor of the tub or shower stall.

The structure provides a combined shelf and guard for shower handles that is sturdy in construction and securely mounted to the shower wall, conveniently located out of the direct path of the shower stream.

While I have herein shown and described what I conceive to be the most desired form of my invention, it is to be understood that alterations and modifications. thereof may be made in a manner to satisfy the spirit of my invention which is intended to comprehend any and all equivalent devices as comprehended in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A valve guard and shelf means for a shower bath having a wall including hot and cold water supply pipes, valves, valve stems, handles on the valve stems, and sleeves mounted on the valve stems, said means comprising a back wall, a shelf means extending perpendicularly from the back wall, and side walls extending forwardly from said back wall; means for supporting the back wall to the shower bath wall including means for receiving the valve stems of the hot and cold water shower supply pipes; said shelf means adapted to be disposed at a horizontal level sufficiently above the valve stems and overlying said valve stems and handles to avoid interference with the operation of the handles, and said side walls adapted to extend forwardly from said back wall on both sides of and above, below and beyond the valve stems and handles to enclose the same, whereby said shelf and side walls form a guard to prevent accidental turning of said handles.

2. A valve guard and shelf means for a shower bath as recited in claim 1, in which said back wall is substantially rectangular in shape and said side walls engage and support said shelf, and a towel rack sustained on said structure at a horizontal level below the valve stems and handles, said towel rack being sustained by said side walls adjacent the bottom outer corners thereof.

3. A valve guard and shelf means for a shower bath as recited in claim 1, in which said means for receiving the valve stems consists of slot means through which said valve stems are adapted to extend, the back wall having a portion adjacent the slot means adapted to be engaged by the valve sleeves mounted on said valve stems for clamping the back wall to the shower wall.

4. A valve guard and shelf means for a shower bath as recited in claim 1, including upstanding rails on the outer periphery of said shelf means.

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